Taste Test
by Veraliana
Summary: Koizumi's mastered the art of suppressing one's impulses. But under the right circumstances he just might cave in. Itsukyon


This fanfic is part of 30 kisses. I'm working on it together with cherryflash from LJ, so don't expect to find all 30 kisses entries on this account. You'll only find the ones that I wrote. This one is kiss #27: overflow. Please enjoy.

...

"I don't need your help," Haruhi had said with assumed authority. "That would set a bad example as the brigade leader. I'll be right behind you. Now go without me."

Kyon easily accepted her command and soon found the reply to his knocks on the clubroom door too masculine to be Asahina-san. On the other side of the door Koizumi was sitting at the table in the center of the room with his bag at his feet and a deck of cards in his hands. The usual forced smile he wore was ever-present. Nagato sat quietly reading a paperback in her usual corner. It wasn't the same book as yesterday's.

"Suzumiya-san's not with you?" Koizumi asked innocently.

"Nope. Cleaning duty." Kyon could have sworn he saw Koizumi relax slightly. "Where's Asahina-san?"

"She is unwell and has chosen to abstain from attending school today," Nagato replied almost immediately after the question had been asked.

Kyon made no attempt to stop the disappointed sigh from passing between his lips. He tossed his bag on the floor and sat down heavily and watched Koizumi deal cards with disinterest. Kyon couldn't remember Asahina-san ever being absent before. He already found himself missing her soft "come in" and the rustle of her maid's dress as she served tea. He looked over to the kettle and thought, I can at least have some tea.

Wordlessly, he got up and walked over to the stove and set the water to boil. It would only be a few minutes before he could taste the delicious tea picked out by Asahina-san's angelic hands. It was a shame that Kyon's lack of experience would taint his beloved upperclassman's tea.

"Ah, I wasn't aware Kyon-kun knew how to prepare tea," Koizumi said. He was sitting patiently, the deck dealt neatly out before him for a two-player game. "If it's all right, I'd like some as well."

What was he? His maid? Kyon was about to grumble something rude, but then abruptly realized the pettiness of it and held back his tongue. "I'm not any good at it."

"Neither am I. Shall we learn together then?" Koizumi moved gracefully over to Kyon's side, smile still in place.

"It's okay; Really, I've got it." Kyon shifted over slightly. He couldn't pinpoint the reason but the closeness of Koizumi's face was always unnerving. He was afraid of what might be going on behind those unreadable eyes.

"But I always look forward to practicing my tea preparation skills."

No, you don't, Kyon accurately surmised. "Really, Koizumi, it's fine."

"Look, the water's already boiling."

Kyon pulled out the mismatched cups and felt his heart sink. None of them were quite the same size. And how much was he supposed to fill the cup? Why hadn't he payed more attention to the amount of tea Asahina-san gave him?

A bit nervously—from Koizumi's closeness—Kyon started slowly pouring the steaming water into the first cup. Had he poured enough yet?

"I think that's about right," Koizumi said.

"No, I think a little more…" Kyon turned to Koizumi. "The leaves. Do you have the leaves?"

Koizumi's eyes scanned around for them, resting on a small gold-colored can with a red paper label. "It says one teaspoon per eight ounce cup," he said as he twisted open the can of crushed leaves and measured one teaspoon into the steel steeper. "One teaspoon can be used to steep in up to two separate cups of tea. So it says on the label... Kyon-kun! It's overfl—!"

Kyon inhaled sharply as hot water splashed onto his hand. He brought his hand up to his mouth reflexively to suck on the burnt finger, but Koizumi had beat him to it. "Koizumi, what—?"

Kyon's protest was cut short. It was as if time had slowed down. His body was frozen to the spot and hot shivers were running up and down his spine. Koizumi's mouth was warm and soft around the finger and Kyon found himself mesmerized by the movement of his lips. His face flushed and he nearly gasped as he felt Koizumi's tongue flick against the tip.

His finger then easily slid out of Koizumi's mouth just before Haruhi entered the room.

"Kyon, what's with that dumb expression on your face?"

Kyon nearly replied with "what?" but hastily corrected it with "Nothing."

"Oh, you made tea!" Haruhi said gleefully, curious as to how Kyon's tea would taste.

Wordlessly, Kyon finished preparing the tea alone. Haruhi had replaced Koizumi—who'd silently slipped back to his seat at the table—at his side. She gladly accepted his tea, though she tried to hide the true extent of her happiness, and shuffled over to her favorite spot in front of the computer.

Nagato took her cup with a soft "Thank you." Speaking of Nagato, why hadn't she stopped Koizumi when he did...what he did? Kyon shook away the all-too-vivid memory of recent events and stiffly approached the table.

The last to receive his tea, Koizumi gave Kyon a sickeningly sweet smile as if nothing had happened. Kyon sat down across from him. One look at the how the cards were laid out told him it wasn't a game he'd played before. He lifted his mug to his lips and waited for Koizumi to begin explaining the rules. Koizumi was about to speak when he was interrupted by Haruhi.

"What a waste of perfectly good tea," she complained loudly. "If only Mikuru-chan were here. I know! Let's all go visit her and have her make us tea." She had those scary sparkling eyes again.

The rest of the club members just looked at her.

"Right now," she added eagerly. "Pack it up." She was instantaneously in the hall and yelling for everyone else to pick up the pace.

"I thought things went well," Koizumi said as he placed his cup down.

Skeptical of that statement, Kyon lifted his cup to his lips and took a sip. He kept his eyes on Koizumi the whole time.

"Pwah!" Kyon spat the scalding hot tea back into the cup.

Koizumi's smile didn't falter. "Did you burn your tongue?"

Kyon's faced turned red and then redder as he finally understood Koizumi's previous words. When he'd said "things went well", he wasn't talking about the tea.


End file.
